CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — As of Monday, through Halo's Flight partnership with the Coastal Bend Blood Center, the helicopters will now be carrying type O whole blood to give blood transfusions, all while in air.
The new in-flight method was implemented back in June, where Flight Halo used Component Therapy, meaning the blood is split up into different parts.
Since implementing the transfusions, 29 people have had their lives saved. The first being a four-year- old boy.
"In an ATV accident, where his liver had a large laceration and he was literally bleeding to death. " said Randy Endsley, Chief Medical Officer for Halo Flight.
"In fact they actually had to do CPR on him for a short time while going into the hospital."
Every doctor halo flight spoken to said the component therapy blood is what saved that young boy's life.
Now, the helicopters will be carrying the universal Type O blood, which will be in one bag, instead of multiple components.
This giving those in critical condition the one thing they need the most...time. For those who live in rural areas, time is something they don't have much of.
"It may be an hour or two, hours from a trauma center that can get them into an operating room with an experienced trauma center surgeon," said Endsley.
